QAM 2011 : Speech by Sonal Giani

Hello my dear lesbian, gay, transgender brothers and sisters, today I stand amidst you and proudly declare that I am a bisexual.

That which I am about to say now, is dedicated to all my dearest gay friends. To that gay friend of mine who joins me for a dance at a gay party but, on returning to his home he can never reveal to his mother about his sexuality, to my lesbian friend who has come out to her family but, her family members won't let her meet her girlfriend. To my (that) bisexual friend who is being forcefully married because her parents do not accept her relationship with her girlfriend, nor do they understand her. Last but not least to my (that) transgendered friend who secretly dresses up in female attire but has never dared to show up at such a rally.

With love in our hearts and faith about this nation's constitution, in all of Mumbai and all of India, we wish to bring forth the truth of our life, to unmask the false veil, to protect our identity and dignity, with peace and faith in our minds.

This day is an important day because after today, the queer community will not remain silent, we will no longer be helpless or depressed. We will not fear now.

On this day, with love and affinity in our hearts, we have come in your midst, in large numbers not only in Mumbai, but in other cities and regions too, with an expectation that we will be able to build a bridge of love and friendship, so that, no one ever has to feel desolate due to their sexual orientation.

Our uncountable friends have been forcefully married due to the pressurization of the society, a marriage of compromises, since years together, gays, lesbians, transgendered and queer persons have lived a life of shameful desolation. There are also many husbands and wives whose life has been destroyed and its effects suffered by their children. Only because, we say that a male cannot live with another male and a female with another female. This march is also a project for me, a campaign against such forced marriages.

To bring a change in such a prejudiced behaviour is a challenge that we have accepted through this rally.

From this August Kranti Maidan, we need to take this revolution to our homes.

All the youth gathered here, we are in dire need of your zeal, the preceding generation has fulfilled its responsibilities, now it is our turn. I call upon (that) every man, who can hear my voice, whether gay or straight- Join the National LGBT movement!

Fight for our cause.

It is my humble request to every man present here, do not be satisfied just by purchasing a T-shirt, join in our movement as much as possible. Every local organisation in this country needs you. Every clinic, every youth program, every queer festival, every queer event organizer needs your help. Whether it is Humsafar, which is protecting the community from HIV, or, LABIA- an organisation for lesbian and bi-sexual women, aiding them in any way possible. All these organisations require our aid, our help and our love.

Even now, these organisations lack monetary funds and help in any form. So that, they may be able to setup a safe haven for our gay brothers and sisters who stay in rural places and are not exposed to the kind of freedom that we have achieved. We still have to build roads inwards to create paths to reach them!

Our work is even now incomplete, the hearing for section 377 is still pending at the Supreme Court and our request is that this draconian law be made redundant.

Let everyone know that our relations are not just about a sexual relationship, instead they are about love and faith, they are about giving each other a hand in the times of need. In the very same way as relationships based on true love.

This movement is a fight for our freedom which is our right.

We too wish to have the same rights for our relationships that you enjoy. We aren't taking away your rights from you neither are we asking anything from you. We too wish for the very same thing that you wish for, a chance for acceptance that will take away our loneliness.

We wish that this bitter fundamentalism ends, the torture, the discrimination may end, may homophobia end and may the hatred towards us at our very own homes end, everywhere!

Every second day we see a comical representation of our orientation depicted on TV through movies, etc. We bear the curses of people calling us names faggot, lesbo, homo!

It is time that our constitution provides us with our rightful place. So that, there we may not have to face discrimination on any grounds due to our sexual identity.

Yes, it is time that we all unite to stand up and fight, today we have stood up together and walked united to showcase to this world that we are not inferior on any accounts.

All of you present here please repeat with me in a united voiceWe all are one, We all are Many!

Let there be glory.